Revisiting Good Blogs: Innovative Interactivity (II) - A Digital Watering Hole for Multimedia Enthusiasts

One of the blogs I enjoy following is Innovative Interactivity (II).  Here is the description from the "About" section of the blog:


"Innovative interactivity serves as an open forum for multimedia producers, interactive web developers, and new media professionals. Content focuses on the dynamics and theory of how people receive and react to different forms of information on the web, both through visual, multimedia storytelling and interactive information design."


"The goal is that this blog will provide an outlet for those in the online realm, whether you are interested in learning about multimedia storytelling, interactive web development, programming languages, software tools, data visualization, or all of the above.  Hopefully you will be inspired from what you read here to surpass your current standards in order to develop highly effective multimedia interactives for the digital community."

Tracy Boyer Clark is the founder & managing editor of Innovative Interactivity.  She is finishing up her MBA/MSIS dual master's degree at UNC-Chapel Hill. 


Here are a few links to recent II blog posts:
Behind the scenes of NFB's One Millionth Tower
Lessons learned from Internet Summit 2011
Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg delivers monumental speech for women in tech

Multimedia Storytelling; Brian Storm & Scott Strazzante (info via Innovative Interactivity)

Brian Storm, the founder and president of MediaStorm, recently was a presenter during UNC's Photo Night, an event that celebrates various forms of photo-journalism. Tracy Boyer, author of the Innovative Interactivity blog, recently posted about her experience attending the presentation and her chance to chat with Brian Storm over lunch.


Tracy's post provides a good overview of MediaStorm's business model, which has four main components - multiple platform publication, project-specific multimedia agency, an interactive production studio, and evangelism/training.  I think that MediaStorm's business model will hold well for the future, given the rapid changes in technology, journalism, and cross-platform interactive media. Despite the economic downturn, MediaStorm had their best year, according to Tracy.


Below is an example of what you'll find on the MediaStorm website:


Common Ground  (excerpt)
Photographer: Scott Strazzante

The full Common Ground project can be viewed at http://mediastorm.org/0023.htm


"On July 2, 2002, Jean and Harlow Cagwin watched as their home — the last remnant of their 118-acre cattle farm in Lockport, Illinois — was torn down clearing the way for a new housing development. Several years later, Ed and Amanda Grabenhofer and their four children moved into the new Willow Walk subdivision, their house just yards from where the Cagwin's home once stood.

Common Ground introduces us to the lives touched by this land, as photographer Scott Strazzante takes us on a visual journey exploring the differences and similarities of these two families while simultaneously asking us to look at what is common among us all."





What I liked about the videography and photography is how the photography juxtaposed similar pictures depicting the commonalities between the older couple who once lived on the farmland that was transformed into the suburban home for young families.


RELATED
ABOUT MEDIASTORM (from the MediaStorm website)

"Originally founded in 1994 at the University of Missouri School of Journalism, MediaStorm relaunched in March of 2005 with a focus on creating cinematic narratives for distribution across a variety of platforms.
In November 2005, MediaStorm premiered its award-winning multimedia publicationhttp://mediastorm.org. Utilizing animation, audio, video and the power of still photography, we publish diverse narratives that speak to the heart of the human condition.

MediaStorm is widely recognized for the quality editorial work we've produced for our many clients. We have created award-winning multimedia projects, interactive applications, and web sites for media companies, foundations and advocacy groups. Our clientele includes Starbucks, Council on Foreign Relations, and National Geographic Magazine. MediaStorm projects have also appeared on numerous websites including MSNBC, Slate, NPR and Reuters and have been broadcast on PBS..."

"MediaStorm is a multimedia production studio based in Brooklyn, New York and collaborating virtually with creative resources around the globe. MediaStorm's principal aim is to usher a new era of multimedia storytelling, via our  publication, our advanced workshops and our industry-leading production and consulting services. The people we hire and the culture that we have created for quality and innovation at MediaStorm are the keys to our success."

MediaStorm Founder Brian Storm advises journalism community to partner and collaborate
Tracy Boyer, Innovative Interactivity,  2/17/10
Bloggers: If you link to MediaStorm, be sure to send an email to info@mediastorm.org with your URL.


Some of my previous posts about multimedia/digital storytelling:
Visual Literacy and Multimedia Literacy Quotes
The Importance of Storytelling and Multimedia Content-Updated
Digital Storytelling Platforms and Multiple Perspectives: A look at the work of Jonathan Harris - food for thought for interactive timeline design.
Two Interesting Posts:  Colin Mulvany "Will the touch tablet save professional journalism?" & Michael Arrington -"The End of Hand Crafted Content"
Umajin Creative - Digital Storytelling for Interactive Whiteboard or Touch Screen- free demo available.
Resources for the (therapeutic) use of digital and multimedia storytelling & social stories for children and teens.

Interactive Multimedia Journalism: NY Time's 5-part series, "Held by the Taliban"

I came across a link to this information below  via the Innovative Interactivity blog:



-NY Times

David Rohde, a NY Times reporter, was travelling in Afghanistan to interview a Taliban commander when he was kidnapped with two Afghan colleagues on November 10, 2008.  He reported his story in traditional format, Held by the Taliban:  7 Months, 10 Days in Captivity  in print and on-line in a series that spanned over five days, along with an epilogue

I found that in just about 10 minutes,  the on-line multimedia version of the Rohde's story provided me with a deeper understanding of the complex nature of the conflicts in the region, as well as a sense of what what he might have felt during his long ordeal. 

Rohde tells the story through narrative, photographs, animated maps, video scenes of his experiences, propaganda-like content from the videos watched by young men of the Taliban, and a 3D representation of how his escape from captivity unfolded.The on-line interactive feature included five video clips, each corresponding to one of the articles of the series.  What I appreciated about the video clips was the opportunity to  view each of the video clips sequentially, or in an any order.   The animated maps provided a meaningful geographic context to the story, and the fact that the story was narrated by the author gave it a sense that the conflict in and around the Afghan region is immediate, real, and urgent.

Rohde's story continued with a Q & A on a NY Times blog, further enhancing the meaningfulness and life of the story.   Before the digital era, a story like this would have been thrown out with the paper, or watched by a few on a television news documentary, remembered by a handful of historians, and forgotten by most people. 

Interactive multimedia journalism provides a chance for readers/viewers/users a glimpse of history and culture related to the news story,  and also provides a means of documenting history-in-the-making for current and future generations.  

As I read Rohde's story, watched the video clips, and viewed related multimedia content, I thought about the  increase in the number of people who now access the internet, including the NY Times, from their mobile devices.  I wondered how story might be interpreted through the small screen, and also wondered how Rhode's multimedia story and others like it could be played out on  screens installed in public spaces.  

With some tweaking, this form of multi-media journalism could be accessed on large screens, or even touch-walls, in variety of locations.  Airports, trains, visitor centers, museums, libraries, and shopping malls come to mind as places where this might be useful.   Similar interactive screens are out there, such  the GoBoard digital concierge at the Courtyard Marriott, created by Four Winds Interactive using Microsoft's interactive technologies.

-Mariott GoBoard, Microsoft



-Hard Rock Cafe's Memorabilia Wall, Engaget

RELATED

Charlie Rose interview with David Rohde

SOMEWHAT RELATED
Sensory-Mind's Ring Wall, an interactive multi-touch wall you don't even have to touch!
The Ring Wall is an interactive information display that looks like it could support an interactive multimedia news story.

How to recreate past events with multimedia

The link above is to a post by Tracy Boyer, the author of the Innovative Interactivity blog, and discuss techniques that multimedia content producers can use to recreate past events, along with some examples.

Tracy Boyer's Blogroll

I'm sure that many of my readers will appreciate this list!

• 10,000 words
• Adam Westbrook
• Design Reviver
• Duckrabbit
• FlowingData
• Interactive Narratives
• Journerdism
• Kennedy Media
• KobreGuide
• Mashable
• Mastering Multimedia
• MediaShift
• MediaStorm
• Multimedia Standards
• MultimediaShooter
• News Videographer
• ReadWriteWeb
• Smashing Magazine
• Teaching Online Journalism
• Visual Editors
• Visual Journalist

Cute Little Interactive YouTube + Click Car Game: Click on the disappearing "click" button on the screen to save the car from crashing!

Raja Manohar, from Hexolabs sent me a link to his interactive YouTube + click games, and I thought I'd share it with my readers. Enjoy saving the car from a disastrous crash!




Hexolabs, located in India, is involved in a variety of projects, including mobile games for health.